Groundwater and Surface Water

Groundwater is found underground in cracks and spaces in rock, soil and sand. It begins as rainfall or snow, and then moves through the soil into underground aquifers or makes its way back to surface streams and lakes. An aquifer is an underground layer of permeable rock, meaning that the rock has openings that liquids can pass through and water can collect in these pockets.

Surface water is water that flows only on the surface of the earth like rivers and lakes. In many communities, groundwater is the sole source of water. In the St. Marys River watershed, the City of Sault Ste. Marie gets 50% of its water from groundwater wells and 50% from surface water in Lake Superior.

Water that flows into a watershed also leaves a watershed through the water cycle.

Water is constantly moving through our environment in a cycle. Precipitation in the form of rain or snow falls from the sky and flows over the land into rivers and lakes or seeps into the ground. Water evaporates from rivers and lakes or is released by plants. The moisture is carried in the air and as it rises it forms clouds that release it once again to the earth as precipitation.